Skyrim- Avengers Style
by TheBandNerd
Summary: Werewolves, and Silver Hand, and Dragons OH MY! Basically, its about the adventures the Avengers have in Skyrim. You don't necessarily need to have played the game to enjoy it. Come join the magical fun! Skyrim AU. Brony heavy. Some Clint/Phil mentioned. Rated T for some language, some violence, and all that jazz.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know I've been a horribly author for not updating anything! Please forgive me as I grovel at your feet and beg for forgiveness Anyways. I know this might seem kind of crackish, and it probably is, but I just couldn't resist after I finished playing Skyrim today! So enjoy my lovelies! And BTW, this is my first multi-chap fic. Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Avengers characters or anything Skyrim related. Basically, I own nothing.**

**Also un-beta'd. Any mistakes are purely my own since I edited it.**

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It had been weeks since he had last seen Tony. Bruce paced back and forth in his old home, Jorrvaskr, running a hand through his already wild and tousled hair. About three weeks ago, Tony had been sent by the Companions to retrieve some plans from a Silver Hand hide out. Natasha had been hoping to use them to track and kill the top leaders of the Sliver Hand to avenge the recent death of their long-time shield-brother Phil Coulson. What was worse was that Tony had just become part of the Circle, and was only just starting to adjust to his new beast form. Those good for nothing Silver Hand had probably tortured him endlessly and are just waiting for the rest of the Companions to come and get him. Bruce shuddered at the thought of those filthy werewolf hunters torturing his Tony and using him as bait. And even though Bruce knew that it was a trap, he was still hell-bent on going to that camp and getting Tony back, no matter the cost.

Bruce couldn't help but think that this whole situation could have been avoided if Clint, Natasha, and Phil hadn't done that damn blood ritual! For the Nine's sake, he, the Harbinger, didn't even want his beast form! Him and the Twins, Steve and Thor, had been looking for a cure for the longest time. They want to go to Sovngarde and rejoice with the ancient Nord heroes of old, not be trapped eternally in Hircine's hunting grounds. When Tony came around, Bruce and the Twins thought he might be the one to help him find the cure. He was a genius, and he seemed to have the right character and all the potential to be a great Companion. Slowly, throughout the weeks, Bruce started to get close to Tony, and eventually they fell in love. They had gotten married and everything and then one night Tony said he was going to spend time with his shield-siblings and who was Bruce to stop him. He had been tired though and didn't join his beloved. Though what he didn't know was that night, Tony would have the hated beast blood running through his veins. Bruce was furious when Tony came home and informed him that Phil had died during their raid of a Silver Hand camp to celebrate Tony's transformation. How dare they do something like that under his nose! He knew the three embraced their beast blood, but they also knew it would upset Bruce if Tony turned and yet they did it anyways. Plus, it also got one of their own killed!

That same day, Natasha, who had just recently returned from mourning with Clint at the site of Phil's death, retrieved Tony saying she needed to talk to him. Bruce wasn't going to stop him since he knew Natasha was having a hard time with Phil's death. He knew Clint would be worse since it was his mate. He assumed that Tony would just talk to them for a while, and was surprised when just an hour later, Tony came back claiming he was going to Riverwood to retrieve some of Phil's stuff for Clint. Bruce thought it wasn't that dangerous and let Tony go out on his own without him tagging along like normal. When Tony had not returned the next morning, Bruce started to worry. Bruce tried to calm down and think rationally. Usually if Tony was not going to return for a night or two, he would send a courier to give Bruce a note saying where he was going and how long he would be gone. When a courier didn't show up at their house that day, Bruce started to worry a lot. Now in Skyrim, it wasn't uncommon for an adventurer like Tony to be gone for a while. Their adventures took them all over the vast lands, and they would usually be gone for weeks, usually with no way to contact their loved ones. But Tony was no normal adventurer. No matter what the circumstance, Tony found a way to assure that Bruce knew he was safe. The fact that he had heard nothing of Tony for a day now got him worked up. He could feel the beast stir underneath, and he started doing deep breathing exercises to help him calm down. The next day of Tony being MIA, Natasha informed him that she had actually sent Tony to a Sliver Hand camp near Riverwood to steal some of their plans and that she was worried that it was taking so long. Bruce was beyond furious with her and had to leave the room she was in to keep the beast calm as it stirred. This information had added a new level of fear to his worrying, but he tried to keep it at bay and tried to keep in mind that operations like the one Tony was doing could take a day or two to complete. He would wait it out for a day or two to see if Tony would come back, and if he hadn't returned, then he would start panicking.

Well days had turned into weeks and Bruce had been going crazier and crazier by the second. He had hardly eaten anything, and the new whelps who were supposed to have training from him were floundering about Jorrvaskr while Bruce just paced back and forth in his old room/study trying to decide what to do. "Whoa there Brucey. Calm down. I'm sure Stark is out at some old Dwemer city that he found on the way back here and just had to explore because he saw something shiny in there." Clint stated, trying to soothe Bruce's worries. "I highly doubt that! If he saw a Dwemer ruin on his way back, he would have marked it on his map and been back home so he could drag me out there with him! No, instead he is probably caged in some horrendous Silver Hand camp somewhere as revenge on the Companions for YOUR attack on one of their camps!" Bruce was all but shaking with rage and fear at the end of his tirade. He took a deep breath and tried talking again. "Now that that is out of the way, have you heard anything?" Clint sighed, his face gaining color back quickly after paling when Bruce yelled at him. "Nothing yet. Our scouts have been searching the know Silver Hand camps, but nothing has turned up so far. But there are plenty of unknown camps that have yet to be discovered. Though like I said, he probably just…" Clint stopped when Bruce gave him a glare that said he wouldn't believe his theory no matter what. "Okay. Never mind then. Anyways, I'm sure he is fine. Stark is strong and he's sure to give anyone that tries to hurt him hell." Bruce just sighed and collapsed in his chair exhausted. He knew Tony could take care of himself, but if he had been in his wolf form when he was possibly captured, those bastards had most likely locked him up. And there wasn't much he could do if he was locked up. Sure he could pick the lock, but that would do no good if they had kept him weak. Tony would be torn apart before he ever escaped.

Bruce was just trying to stop himself from imagining the torture his love was possibly going through when Natasha ran down the hall with a look of pure rage on her face. "The bastards had the gall to send a note to us." She hissed the words and Bruce felt only a bit of remorse for the next person who pissed her off. "Let me see it." Bruce hurriedly grabbed the note form Natasha and read it out loud. It read:

"Dear Companions,

I have your little puppy here. He is being such a perfect pet. But he would look so much better as a door decoration. If you want your little pup back, you'd better hurry. Come to Faldar's Tooth if you think you can save him. It won't be long before it's time to redecorate. We'll be waiting.

Sincerely,

Loki."

Bruce, Clint, and Natasha all had terrifying looks of rage on their faces. Bruce was shaking with rage. How dare they! They were going to pay for this! "This Loki character has got a lot of nerve to kidnap my husband and then provoke us by sending a ransom letter of all things! We leave tomorrow morning for Faldar's Tooth! Get the entire Circle ready to leave and fight. We _will_ get Tony back!" Bruce started to head back to his house to gather his equipment when Natasha stopped him. "Bruce" she said gently, well as gently as Natasha could be. "This is clearly a trap. I know you want to save Tony, we all do, but do you really think this is a good idea? We need a plan. We just lost Phil; we don't want to lose anyone else. Clint is still torn up over Phil, and barging into this camp raises the possibility of more deaths occurring higher." Bruce just closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as to not yell at Natasha about her hypocrisy. "Obviously that didn't stop you four from attacking that camp three weeks ago. Or for sending Tony to get plans from a Silver Hand camp by himself after you pissed off the Silver Hand." Natasha glared at him and hissed, "That was different. It was a smaller camp. Faldar's Tooth is a huge fortress in the middle of the most crime riddled hold. It's a suicide mission!" By the end, Natasha had reached a shouting whisper. Her face was stone-cold and Bruce knew he had pissed her off. Though she deserved it; she and Clint had acted foolishly and on their own emotions. Bruce spoke a bit louder to acknowledge both of them "Now you two go get the others ready because we are leaving tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn no matter what. We are going to rescue Tony whether it is an obvious trap or not. This is your chance to fix you mistake, don't mess it up."

Bruce left the two with those words to ponder on, all the while mentally sending Tony a message. _Hang in there Tony. We are coming to get you. Don't let those bastards break you._

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Let me know what you think and if you want another chapter! Just hit that little lonely review button right down there and make us both happy! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I HAVE BEEN A TERRIBLE AUTHOR. PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR MY LAZINESS IN UPDATING! So I know it's been a while since the first chapter, but look on the bright side, at least I wrote a second chapter! Yay! Anyways, here is the second chapter. It's actually angsty, and I know I said I didn't do angst but I broke and had to do it. It might suck, but it is done. And the ending is probably horrid since it was written at a different time than the rest of the chapter. And my brain was all over the place when I was writing it. I had like two different endings happening in my head. Also, my action scenes probably lack, so please give me some constructive criticism to help. And any Skyrim fans, the layout of my Faldar's Tooth is not the same as the game's. Please kindly overlook that small detail. Well I'm going to end this insanely long author's note and go on with the story! :D ANY AND ALL MISTAKES ARE MINE. I don't have a beta and am too tired to proof read now. If any mistakes would kindly be pointed out to me, I will fix them. This applies to the previous chapter and the future ones too. **

**TRIGGERS: torture, rape**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing! The characters are not mine. Half the stuff in here is not mine. Basically, I own the plot. Even half of that is from Skyrim. **

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Pain. Hot, searing pain. He was slowly starting to drift into consciousness, though he wished he wasn't. His muscles burned with every movement he made. It felt like someone had poked, prodded, and whipped him for a month straight. Oh wait, someone had. It was all starting to come back to him, piece by piece. Tony shuddered as he remembered all the torture Loki and his brutes had put him through. All the cuts, whips, tears, bruises, and other…things… that he would never be able to forget, even if he got amnesia. He looked around at the other cages, at his brethren, locked up and tortured. The raw pain and sorrow in their eyes was too much for him. Not for the first time, Tony wished he hadn't lied to Bruce and had just told him what he was up to. Hell, they were husbands; they were supposed to be able to tell each other everything! And now Tony had fucked it up by getting himself captured by the bastards. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about escaping. He thought about it every day. The lock pick was so easy that a child could pick it. But his captors had given him some kind of potion that put him to sleep and paralyze him every time they brought him back to his cage. Even if he could move, he would be too weak to fight his way out of this damn fortress. There were just too many people here. Oh when he gets out of here, those damn assholes have got it coming….

Tony looked up as he heard footsteps coming toward his cell. An involuntary shudder ran through him. He knew that meant only one thing; bad shit was about to go down. The footsteps stopped at his cell, and a scowling face that Tony knew too well sneered at him. "How's the weak little mongrel doing? Ready for some more fun?" Tony spit in Loki's face. "I don't what you consider fun, but this certainly is not…. Fun is a bunch of women… and mead and getting shit-faced at a party…. There is certainly no mead and no women down here; there isn't even any good-lookin' men! ... Like I said, no fun." Tony's breath was labored seeing as he was so weak and exhausted. Though he could see that he had hit a nerve with half the Silver-Hand in the room with his little good-looking comment, and the other half were just pissed because he was being a cheeky dick but he knew that it was worth it to piss them off. "Good," Tony thought, "the bastards deserved every insult in all of Tamriel." "Alright mutt, you're going to get it for that cheek. You get to entertain me for an extra hour tonight. Fun right?" Tony knew better than to mouth off again, seeing as an extra "entertainment" for Loki could mean anything. Loki smirked when he saw Tony had nothing to say. "That's what I thought. Now be a good pup and obey me." Tony nodded in defeat. Loki yanked him up and out of his cage and pushed him to the ground. "Get up off your knees you useless piece of meat! The only time you should be on your knees is when I tell you to be."

Loki took Tony by the arm and brought him over to the torture room. He led him to the chains on the wall and chained him facing the wall, leaving his bare back exposed. Tonight he would get to enjoy a nice whipping. Tony knew it could be worse, and that scared him more than a more terrible torture, such as the body rack. His shoulder was still not fully healed after being dislocated by that damn contraption. The fact that he was getting it "light" meant that Loki had a reason for not having him temporarily incapacitated. "You're getting a little treat tonight my pet. I need you to be able to move later on. I'll be back in a little bit. Enjoy." Loki left and one of his cronies took the whip and cracked it right beside Tony's face. Tony flinched, and then the real pain began. His back was still hardly healed from the last whipping. Almost healed wounds were opened again, and crimson rivulets rolled down his spine dripping to the pools of blood already beneath him from other's punishments. Every whip crack sounded like a crack of lightning and it stung like a group of hagravens were running their poisoned claws across his back. He wanted to just collapse and sob, but he would not let these filthy murderers see weakness. He allowed on tear to fall at a particularly biting whip, hiding it by sagging his head against the wall. That was the only tear he would allow tonight. Tony stayed like this until the twenty whips were done. His body, previously tense with pain, sagged and when one of the werewolf hunters released him from the chains, he dropped to the floor in a heap of blood and agony.

Loki walked in then, having some strange sixth sense that let him know his prisoner was done with his torment. He yanked Tony off the floor and started dragging him out of the room. "You're coming with me after you get cleaned up. I need that entertainment that you promised me tonight." Loki purred into Tony's ear. Tony blanched and felt like he would heave what little he had left in stomach on the floor. He feared what he knew he would have to do. Every time Loki made him do this, he felt like he was betraying Bruce even though he was forced to do these disgusting things against his will. He felt defiled and like he would not be good enough for Bruce anymore. Loki led Tony to a room with a big tub full of semi-warm water and another of his followers stripped him and pushed him into the tub. Tony winced as the slightly dirty water entered into his fresh wounds, burning them and turning the water a repulsive shade of red. The hunter took a strip of cloth that was supposed to serve as a wash rag and proceeded to wash Tony's back of blood quite roughly.

When he was done, the bastard fetched Loki and Loki again yanked Tony's arm up, causing him to stumble out of the tub. Tony went to grab his pants, at least the tattered cloth that served as pants, but Loki just continued on and hauled him back to Loki's room. When they arrived, Loki harshly shoved Tony to his knees. "Now this is the proper time to be on one's knees pathetic beast." Loki leaned up against the door, waiting for Tony. "Come on pup, you know what you must do." Unfortunately, Tony clearly remembered what he must do. Loki had done this to him numerous times over his month stay at this fortress, and every time he felt more disgusting and vile. "Hurry up. I don't have all night" growled out Loki. Slowly, Tony shuffled over to Loki and started to unzip his leather trousers. When those were off, he leant his head down to start this dastardly deed. When Loki led them to his bed, Tony thought of how disgusted Bruce would be at him because of this. But most of all, he thought about how much he missed Bruce. Then when Loki roughly entered him, he even prayed to the Nine's that Bruce and the other Companions would be able to find him soon. He didn't know how much more of this he could take before he broke and never returned. Suddenly, one of the Silver Hand watch guards busted into Loki's room. "Sir, the fort is under attack. It's those damn companions. They have come to liberate the captives." he informed Loki. Tony's eyes lit up with hope. Bruce and them had finally come to get him. "Kill them. Kill every single one of them, but bring the leader to me alive. I have a special plan for him." Loki commanded with an evil glint in his eyes. Tony's hope was crushed and fear rushed into his mind. Bruce and his friends could be slaughtered, and he could do nothing. That moment was when he broke and then blacked-out.

Bruce and the rest of the Circle crept around the area near the fort, trying to find the best way to execute their plan. After their surveillance Bruce formulates the attack plan. "Okay. Natasha and Clint, you sneak through the cracked part of the wall over there on the hill and kill as many as possible. I want you to sneak and kill as many as possible as quietly as possible. Try and get all the archers and mages. Clint, try to get to the tower as quick as you can. Natasha, when Clint gets to the tower join us immediately. Steve and Thor, you are going with me through that side entrance. It opens up straight into a pit of wolfs, so be prepared. After we finish in the pit, we are going up the stairs into the open. Try and draw out the enemies one by one and find a place with some cover to protect form arrows. Like I told Natasha and Clint, take out any archers and mages that you can. Once we clear out the top, we will proceed into the fort and get Tony back. Got it?" All of them nodded and started to take their positions. "Wait. Remember, let no Silver Hand live. No mercy." They all nodded and looked at Bruce with awe and some trepidation. Usually Bruce was the merciful and nice one. This more savage Bruce slightly alarmed the warriors, but they knew that it was bound to occur at one point. They knew one day the Silver Hand would go too far and push Bruce over the edge. And today was that day. Divines bless the assholes that get in Bruce's way tonight.

Clint and Natasha were the first to infiltrate the fort. After putting on a muffle spell and invisibility spell, they proceeded to their entrance. Normally the two assassins didn't bother with the spells, but this job required all the sneakiness they could achieve, and if that included spells to help with that, then so be it. The two snuck through the crack in the wall on the third level of the open "courtyard" and started killing Silver Hand left and right quickly and quietly. Men were getting snatched into the shadows only to have their throats slit. The two men that were positioned on either tower were dispatched by an arrow in each of their hearts. Soon, Clint was stationed on the tower closest to the entrance Bruce and the Twins would enter through. Once Bruce saw that Clint was in position, the three entered the fort. The three wolves that greeted them instantly howled and alerted the Silver Hand that they had intruders. They charged the wolves and quickly dispatched them with two blows to each wolf. The three traveled up the stairs and the real battle started. Steve and Thor traveled to the left, Thor taking out an ice mage with his Great War hammer of Shock that burned enemies with lightning and crushed their bones and Steve taking down two men with his shield that he would use as a boomerang and his fists. Bruce went to the right and locked onto and archer on the wooden stairs to the next level that were only a few feet away from him. He quickly blocked the few arrows that were shot at him with his shield and killed the man with a few slashes of his sword. The poor fellow didn't even have time to pull out his dagger before Bruce got to him. Bruce then turned to the woman that was next to the archer. She swung at him and bashed him with her shield, but Bruce evaded the swing and was able to take the bash without staggering. He used his quickest and fiercest attacks and the woman could not keep up. Bruce was finally able get a body strike in when she lowered her shield to attack him. He charged at her then plunged his blade deep into her stomach then slit her throat. Natasha finally joined them and was using her two swords to take heads off. She was also quite flexible and good at fighting without swords and would also hop on the enemy and take them down using only her legs (A/N: you Avengers fans know which move I'm talkin bout. The killer thighs one) then proceed to lob their head off. Heads were soon rolling across the levels and bodies with arrows stuck in them, gash wounds, and broken bones and bodies riddled the battle area.

The warriors took a moment to catch their breaths and then proceeded to delve into the interior of the fort. They traveled down a set of spiral stairs into a room with a silver hand and cells. The man was dead within two hits from Bruce's blade. The Companions looked around the room, peering into cells with caged wolves that they assumed were used for wolf fights. This assumption, proven more by the pit that Bruce and the Twins entered through, sickened them and made their hatred of the Silver Hand even greater. They traveled through a damp tunnel into another room with more cells, and of course, more Silver Hand. The mage that was in the room tried to burn Bruce with a fire attack but fortunately Bruce dodged it just in time; consequently, the mage was dispatched by an arrow to face from Clint. This type of standard fighting continued as the group traveled room to room, dodging arrows, magic attacks, and flaming pools of oil until they arrived at a room that housed another wolf pit. Seeing that disturbing sight, the fighters rushed into attacking the fowl human beings in the room that had just a moment ago been betting on which poor wolf would live, killing them even more savagely than the previous Silver Hand. After the fighting was over, the group could not bear the sight of the two poor animals continuing to fight, so Steve and Thor went to dispatch them quickly. With two hits, the wolves were put to rest.

The fighters continued through a door that led to a semi-flooded room, jagged rocks sticking up everywhere, and two large stone stair cases on either side of the room. They took the stair case on the far side of the room and proceeded into another staircase, this one large and spiraling around in the tower like room. Unbeknownst to the Companions, this staircase was rigged with a trip wire that led to a rock slide down the stairs. Bruce was almost to the top when he felt something snag his foot the suddenly rock rolled down onto the group, knocking them down. Most members were just stunned and knocked over, but Steve had no such luck. The soldier had been pinned under a big boulder, his leg crushed under the weight. "Brother! Are you okay?!" Thor boomed, simultaneously heaving the boulder off Steve's leg. "Yeah, it's just a little bruise. It's nothing." Steve said weakly. Bruce and the rest of the company knew that it was not okay; they knew that it was a deep bone bruise, not a little one, but their situation was dire and if Steve said he was fine, they knew he would fight no matter what. Also, they needed each one of them to fight, even if some were slightly injured. So Thor helped his brother up, and the crew continued on into the living quarters.

There they fought off more Silver Hand and started towards what looked to be the torture room. Along the way, they spied a bloody body rack, used for stretching the victims' bodies beyond their natural limits. Bruce shuddered at the thought that Tony might have been on that. The group peeked in and saw a couple of fellow werewolves being whipped and stretched and other retched things being bestowed upon their brothers and sisters. Their blood boiled from knowing that their shield-brother had been submitted to this kind of torment and their rage peaked, but none as much as Bruce. His hatred was beyond that of the Daedras and his anger beyond that of Alduin after being expelled into the time rift. He was shaking, barely able to repress his beast form. "Bruce", Clint whispered to him, "You need to calm down. Now is not the time to let your beast form out." Bruce took a deep breath to try and calm his self. He knew Clint was right, but he also knew that sooner or later he would not be able to control it, and everyone would be in deep shit. Bruce then brought his mind back to mission at hand and the fact that Tony could be in that room, signaling the other that they could attack. They charged into the area, swords, hammers, shields, and arrows flying. Thor bashed a torturer in the back, sending a shock through his body that would stop his heart and effectively breaking his back. Steve leaned against the entrance wall, throwing his shield at anyone who tried to attack his friends from behind and stunning them until his fellow fighters could dispatch them. Bruce and Natasha were taking heads, and Clint was shooting off arrows one after the other. Once all the Silver Hand were slaughtered, the warriors checked around the room for Tony. Bruce checked every single cell, his heart breaking and anger rising at every scared and hollow face that stared at him as he passed. His fear also rose with every cell that did not contain Tony.

Bruce stood and addressed his fellow fighters. "Tony isn't here, so Loki must have him. We are going up to the top floor, where Loki is most likely to be. He will most likely have other Silver Hand to guard him and I want all of you to deal with them. I will go after Loki. Alright, let's go." The other nodded at Bruce's ordered and the group crept along the final spiral staircase up to the top floor. As they neared the end of the staircase, they expected many Silver Hand awaiting them. Instead, they found nothing. This development surprised them and made them a bit weary. Where was everyone? Was this a trap? Despite these fears, the group traveled on. They entered into the circular area that contained doors to many different rooms. On the far side if the room, they saw a closed door. "That has to be the door Loki and his goons are behind." Bruce whispered to the others. The group of warriors started to sneak up to the door when all of a sudden they heard a moan come from a door that appeared to lead to a big bedroom. "That could be Tony!" thought Bruce. Bruce rushed into the room, the others following behind with caution. Bruce stepped into the room and saw a body draped over the bed, the cut up back facing upwards. Bruce cautiously turned the body onto its side, and saw his worst fear come to life. It was Tony. His Tony all cut up and bruised. Tony's lack of clothes and the fact that he was in what was probably Loki's room gave Bruce all the evidence he needed to figure out what that bastard had been doing to his love. Bruce would make Loki pay. He would torture him, just like he tortured all the others who were trapped here, and bring him to the edge of death, to the point that he would welcome death, and then heal him. And repeat it, until he thought the fucker had enough. Then he would kill him. Bruce was just getting up from the bed side when there was an explosion. "Tony!" Bruce yelled, reaching out for his lover.

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**TBC**

**If you want to know what Faldar's Tooth actually looks like and get an idea of what the area is like, go onto go to this link: www. youtube watch?v=Z2iGVmB_x2g and watch! This guy is funny and it gives you a good look at this fort. Also, review! It gives me motivation to write!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yes, I am alive. Real life just sucks and my muse escaped from me a fair amount of times. Anyways, I hope all you who are still reading this continue to stick through the slow updates. I promise to try and update quicker. AND THANK YOU FOR READING THIS STILL. I LOVE YOU ALL. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or anything affiliated with it. I also don't own Skyrim and anything affiliated with it. Basically, I own jack squat. **

**And BTW, I still don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine. So if you wanna be a beta or know anybody who does, PM me. Please. And sorry about the shortness. The next one should be longer. I hope...**

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Fire engulfed everything. Anywhere someone looked, flames were jumping about. Bruce heard a scream and pinpointed the origin to the bed. Once some smoke had cleared, Bruce was able to get a look at who had screamed. Tony was clutching his chest, screams of agony escaping his body. Bruce rushed over to his husband and moved his hands away. A metal vase or something in the room had exploded, projecting shrapnel into his lover's chest. Metal pieces were embedded everywhere in his abdomen, most near his heart, and he had no doubt that there were little pieces of the metal already on their way inside Tony's body to his heart. He knew he had to finish this quickly and get his lover to the nearest wizard to fix this. Before he left the bedroom, Bruce quickly used the most powerful healing spell and ward he had in his repertoire on Tony. He hoped that the years spent at the College of Winterhold paid off and that these spells protected Tony until at least he had dealt with Loki.

Bruce left the room, kicking down the door to the bigger chamber and charging up to meet Loki with the others trailing behind. Loki heard his approach and turned to greet his opponent. "Good evening Bruce." Loki greeted; evil and deceit dripping from every word that rolled off his tongue. "Why did you take Tony? There has to be more to this than petty revenge on the Companions. Normally in these situations, the hostage is as good as gone." Bruce questioned. Towards the beginning of the mission, after his head had somewhat cleared up from rage and worry, Bruce had wondered why Tony had not just been killed. Most Silver Hand would kill a werewolf, and then torture their loved ones with the dead body and knowledge of their death. Most Silver Hand didn't take someone's loved one and taunt their target with the live person. This whole situation reeked of a trap, and he had no time to deal with Loki and his pleasantries. He needed to figure out what Loki was up to quickly so he could save Tony. "Very clever of you, Harbinger Banner, to figure out this was more than it seems. Of course, that is expected of you and your genius. But yes, it is more than simple vengeance. It is all part of a grander scheme. One in where I am in power, not these imbeciles who are trying to rule in place of their fallen king. I plan to rule all of Skyrim! The simpletons need someone who is their superior to rule them, and I am just that! All will kneel to me! 'Tis an intrinsic part of the nature of man to naturally kneel and have someone to rule them. And then once I have done just that, I will move on to all of Tamriel. Then Hammerfell. Then Morrowind. Eventually, I will rule the world! And no one, not even you fools, can stop me. You will stand there powerless as I conquer the entire world." Bruce could feel anger and dread fill him as he listened to Loki's plan. He had a nagging feeling that he knew what their part was in his scheme. "Though," Loki continued as if he had read Bruce's mind, "you might be wondering how the Companions fit into all of this. Well, to achieve my goal, I plan to be the head of every influential group in Skyrim. I will basically be in control of over half of Skyrim, and will be able to use my influence to work my way up to King. And since the Companions are one of the smallest and least spread out group, you lot have the pleasure of being the second to come under my reign, seeing as I'm already the leader of the Silver Hand."

At the last comment, Bruce lost it. His patience had been worn thin with worry for Tony and it finally snapped under the pressure of the implications of Loki's plans. He could feel the transformation starting. The Beast emerged, and then all hell broke loose. The others were busy fighting off Silver Hand, though none of them transformed since it was a very taxing on the body afterwards and they all needed to be at their best if they wanted to save Tony. Bruce was the only one in his lupine form, and that was only because of his tendency to transform when enraged. When his transformation was finally complete, he charged after Loki. He swiped one giant paw across Loki's chest, leaving huge gashes on his abdomen. Loki tried to block with a staff that Bruce must have overlooked earlier, but it was all in vain. The Beast was too strong. Loki then went flying across the room from a well placed swipe of The Beast's paw to his side. The Beast advanced towards him, quickening his pace when he saw the fear gleaming in Loki's eyes. Loki sent a fire bolt his way, knocking him down, but The Beast just brushed it off and continued towards Loki. Loki was becoming very desperate, and teleported away from The Beast. Though what he didn't anticipate was how fast the thing actually was. Not long after his teleportation, the damned beast was almost upon him. Before he could make any move, The Beast had gotten to him and started slashing and biting. Loki shot some fire bolts and blasts of ice at the thing, but it would only temporarily knock him back and just as quickly The Beast was back again. Loki was just about to give in to his wounds and accept his fate when he heard one of the other Companions shouting. All of a sudden, the biting and slicing ceased.

"Bruce! Stop! You can't kill him! This is not you Bruce! Do not let this thing control you!" Steve yelled, hoping to stop Bruce from killing Loki. He knew that they needed to take him in and figure out the scope of his operation. Fortunately, Steve had gotten through The Beast to Bruce before Loki was killed, and he turned to look at Steve. The others had finished off the remaining Sliver Hand not long before that, and had turned to see The Beast looming over Loki, poised to deal a death blow when they heard Steve shout. Bruce turned and faced all of them, trying to break past The Beast and see them clearly, instead of through the hazy consciousness he was currently experiencing. Finally, he broke through and willed himself to transform back into his normal form. Once he was human again, he took a moment to examine the others, thankful that they all seemed free of harm albeit a few scratches here and there, before he collapsed to his knees from exhaustion. Natasha quickly handcuffed Loki, his feeble attempt at crawling away easily stopped by Natasha grabbing him by his helmet. Steve went into one of the bedrooms looking for armor Bruce could wear since his was rendered unusable by his transformation. He came back quickly with some standard iron armor, and though not as good as Bruce's previous armor, it was better than nothing. After putting on the armor, Clint walked over to Bruce and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Glad to have you back boss. Now let's go save that damn husband of yours." Bruce looked at Clint, and saw the sadness from Phil's death still lingering in his eyes, but he also saw determination. He saw determination to save Tony so that Bruce would never have to go through the excruciating pain of losing the one you love. "Thanks" Bruce said, giving a quick, supportive squeeze to his shoulder.

Bruce and the rest of the warriors, plus a new prisoner, quickly made their way back to the room Tony was in. Bruce prayed to the Nine that Tony had held on during their encounter with Loki. If he hadn't, Bruce did not know what he would do. Tony was his world. They basically did everything together, form coming up with new alchemy recipes to adventuring together. It would be like his soul was gone, and he would an empty shell of a man. Once, in the room, Bruce rushed over the bed Tony was still lying on. Sighing in relief that his husband was still alive, he checked over the wound quickly, using another healing spell to try and improve Tony's chances of making it to Winterhold. Hopefully Tolfdir and Colette had something up their sleeve that could save Tony. Bruce gathered Tony up as gently as he could, cringing at the pained moan that came from his love's lips. The group descended the spiral stairs and exited out of a side door that opened up into a caged area at the entrance that was locked when they had arrived. Natasha quickly unlocked it with a key that, Bruce assumed, she had gotten from Loki's pocket.

They hastily proceeded towards their horses at the foot of the hill they had been on before the group had started their assault. Once they arrived, Bruce asked Natasha if he could use Shadowmere to go to Winterhold, since he knew the horse could handle its own. Natasha agreed since Tony would need all the protection on the journey that he could get. Natasha had gotten Shadowmere when she was in the Dark Brotherhood, and when their leader fell, she was able to keep it. That horse had saved their hides many a times. Bruce secured Tony to Shadowmere and gently as he could, then turned to address the group. "Natasha and Clint, I want you two to bring Loki back to Jorrvaskr and question him. Get as much information about his plan as you can. I want to know how much he already has accomplished, who is helping him, everything. And use any means possible to find out. Thor and Steve, you will come with me. Once we get to Winterhold, I want you two to go back to Whiterun and inform the Jarl of Loki's plan." The others nodded, and they all mounted their horses and went their separate ways. Bruce knew it would take a couple of days to make it to Winterhold, and he hoped Tony could make until then. "Please, stay with me. I can't lose you. Please. Hold on." Bruce whispered in Tony's ears hoping the man could hear him, a single tear escaping and dropping onto Tony's shoulder.

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**A/N: You know the drill. Press the pretty blue button that says review. It will actually make me write faster.**

**Side note: Guess what! I'm writing a new story! It will be Bagginshield and it will have an OFC, though I promise I will try my hardest not to let it be a Mary Sue story. So check it out when I actually have it started, which should be soon...**


	4. Chapter 4

The group had only been riding for a couple of hours, but Bruce could see Tony was getting worse. He felt completely useless. They all did. The trio didn't know what they should do. Though they knew if they didn't figure something out soon, they might lose a member of their family. Images of Tony, dead on a funeral pyre, filled their heads. They suppressed a shiver that ran down their spines. Bruce shook those thoughts out of his head, and put his mind to thinking of a solution to help Tony. He needed something to keep the metal from getting to Tony's heart. He thought back to all the experiments he had conducted on his own and during his time at the college, searching for something that might be Tony's salvation. Then, whene he was just about to give up on this train of thought, he remembered one time when he testing new methods of shaping metal for strengthening the power of a lighting staff. He had coiled silver wire around a rod of iron to see if the current would be strengthened by the added metal. Though instead of just electricity, Bruce noticed the iron and silver shavings being pulled towards his strange invention. He wasn't sure what he had done with his little discovery, but he was sure glad he remembered it. This was just what Tony needed. If only he could find a way to reverse the effect…

Bruce halted the party, and Steve and Thor gave him strange looks. They figured that he would want to stop as little as possible to get Tony to the college as soon as they could, but they knew not to question their leader, especially when he was stressed as much as he was at the present. Bruce just shrugged off the looks and began to rummage around in his saddle bag for some scrap metal. It was a long shot, but he still hunted for it. He didn't find any, and with fear realized he would have to ride back to Riften to acquire some. Bruce turned to Steve and Tony with a grave expression. "We have to ride back to Riften. Tony won't make it to Winterhold is his condition and I think I have an idea that could save him. I just need metal. So saddle back up and let's go." Bruce turned Shadowmere back around, pulled Tony closer to him, and spurred the horse into a full out gallop. It would still take them a couple of hours to get back to the town and Bruce just kept praying that Tony would survive it.

When the party finally arrived at Riften, Tony was just barely holding on. The healing spells and wards Bruce had cast on him slowed down the shrapnel a little bit, but Bruce could tell that they were racing against time with Tony's life. Bruce hopped of his steed and hurried through the center of the lake-side town to the blacksmith, leaving Tony in the care of the other two. Bruce entered the shop and approached the blacksmith. "Excuse me sir, could I trouble you to make a small, shallow steel cylinder with an open top? Kind of like this." Bruce showed to smith the dimension of it with his finger, making the shape of a cylindrical bowl. "And another steel cylinder, this one just a little bigger with open ends? It needs to be big enough to snugly fit around the other metal piece while it has wire wrapped around it. Oh, and maybe some silver wire too? I will pay you generously. It's imperative that I acquire these." Bruce worried that with his luck, his request would be a little too outlandish. The blacksmith cast a critical eye over Bruce, judging the urgency of his request. "Aye lad. I can make it for ya. Though it will cost ya. And pray tell why some metal is that important to ya?" "I need it to save my beloved. He won't survive unless I have this." Bruce was getting anxious at this point. He didn't want to explain what had happened and just wanted the metal so he could hurry and save Tony. "Alright. It will be done in about an hour. Think your love can hold on that long?" Bruce nodded. "Thank you so much."

Bruce hurried back to the others and told them put all their horses in the stable while he brought Tony into the inn. The Twins nodded and Bruce went on his way to the Bee and Barb, which was luckily right near the blacksmith. Bruce walked into the inn/pub and cringed as the smell of sweaty drunks bombarded his nose. The Bee and the Barb was not the ideal place to stay since it was in one of the sketchiest towns, and Bruce tried to avoid it at all costs, but it worked for his purposes today. Every eye in the inn turned to him as he walked by with Tony cradled in his arms, looking half-dead. He approached the reptilian innkeeper Keevara. She took one look at Tony and didn't even bother to ask if they needed a room. She just took them up to the second floor and gave them the room across from the entrance. "Just pay me later. You just take care of him now." Bruce smiled and thanked the woman.

Bruce turned to Tony to look over his wounds. He noticed they needed cleaning and he needed to cast another healing spell to hopefully slow down the shrapnel some more. Bruce ran down to Keevara, asking her if she had a bowl of water and a rag. She reached under the counter and pulled out both, turning to fill the bowl with water from the faucet in the back. She quickly handed both over to him, and Bruce ran up the stairs as fast as he could without spilling the water. When he returned to the room, he took off the cloak he had wrapped around Tony after they had rescued him and began to clean the dried blood off of Tony's skin. Since he hadn't had the chance at the fortress, Bruce took this time to look over the extent of Tony's injuries. Besides the obvious wounds from the exploding vase, Bruce noticed there were slashes all over Tony's abdomen and arms. Bruises littered his whole body. He noticed some of his fingers were broken and so were some toes. With every new injury to his beloved that he found, the more his blood started to boil. The worst was when he turned Tony over and noticed the long scars from past whippings and the long, raw gashes from the most recent whipping. Bruce felt his rage at Loki bubble up again. He could feel the ball of hate slowly twisting and writhing in his chest at the bastards who did this to his husband. Bruce wished at that point that he had slowly killed each and every one of those torturers in the most painful ways possible. Slowly, Bruce calmed down and realized that the past was the past and that he should be focusing on Tony. Around this time Steve and Thor had arrived at the room and Bruce sent them out to get potions, herbs that would help keep Tony's wounds free of infection, and wraps for the cuts.

After he finished cleaning Tony's wounds, he scourged his brain for the most powerful healing spell he knew that affected others. Once he recalled it and cast it, he noticed the slashes almost healing closed and even the big gashes on Tony's back were slowly coming together. All this took Bruce about an hour, and he realized it was time to get the metal. He quickly ran out the door at the back of the inn that led to the town center, ran through that, and straight to the blacksmith shop that was not too far away from where he came from. When he stepped inside the smith was sitting behind the counter with Bruce's goods in front of him. Bruce checked over the bowl like piece of metal to make sure it was right, and satisfied he thanked the man and gave him a thousand gold pieces. It was way more than what he probably owed, but the man quickly forged what he needed and silver was not exactly a cheap metal. After procuring what he needed, Bruce sprinted back to the inn, ready to put his plan in action.

When Bruce got back up to the room, Steve and Thor had returned and set up guard outside the room. Bruce signaled to Steve that he should come in, since he was probably more used to medical procedures than Thor. Steve had been a scrawny child and had multiple health problems while young. He went through multiple treatments giving by restoration priests and priestesses. It was amazing that he was even still alive, though eventually he grew out of his problems and grew into a healthy young man. Most people said the transformation was a miracle of the Divines. Anyways, Bruce described to Steve what he was going to do. "Okay, so I'm going to wrap this silver wire around the outside of this cylindrical casing. After I do that, I'm going to place this outer cylinder over the wire as a protective casing. The hardest part comes next. I will need to focus a small ball of lightning into that casing. The dangerous part comes last. I will have to place this in Tony's chest and I need your help to do it. You will have to wipe the blood off from around the area so that I can see and I will need you to hold Tony down if he happens to wakes up during all of this, which he probably will. It is crucial that you do not let him move. Understand?" Steve nodded yes. He wasn't exactly sure how the contraption would save Tony, but he trusted Bruce and his intelligence to do the right thing. Bruce sent Thor down to get some hard liquor to knock out Tony, or at least dull the pain if he woke up, some stitches, and a knife while he prepared his invention.

Thor quickly came back with two bottles of liquor, and Bruce was just about done. He slipped on the outer casing and was ready to go. Thor stayed outside to guard the room, while Bruce used some of the liquor to sanitize and prepare the areas to be cut into. He then used some to clean the metal of the contraption and then wiped it off with water. Now that everything had been sanitized, he was ready to begin. Bruce recalled a special lightning bolt spell that he had learned from Faralda when he was at the college that would create a lasting ball of lightning. It would eventually wear off, and he would have to cast it again later, but it was his only option now. He would try and figure out a permanent spell when he was back at the college. He focused all his energy on using just enough magic to send a bolt that would fill just the casing. After what seemed like forever, Bruce finally felt he had the right energy level to shoot the right amount of lightning. He cast the spell, watching in triumph as it filled just the casing and didn't get anywhere else. Now that that part was over, the hardest part had at last arrived. It had been a while since Bruce had cut into anybody for any other reason than to kill. During his stay at Jorrvaskr, long before Tony got there, he had studied healing and restoration with the priests and priestesses in the Temple of Kynareth and he had been instructed to cut into to people to remove items like arrow heads and such. But that was years ago, and Bruce was afraid that his hands wouldn't be as steady or that this would make Tony worse, but Bruce knew he needed to try for Tony. So he cut a line straight down the middle of his sternum, long enough that he could wedge a cylinder into it.

Tony slowly awakened from what felt like a dark haze only to feel the sensation of someone cutting into him. He thought it was one of the torturers and started to sit up and move to avoid getting cut. He felt strong arms hold him down, and he thrashed about trying to break free. He heard of voice calling his name. He ignored it at first, until he started to recognize the voice. He looked toward his captor, his dazed eyes clearing up. Tony realized it was Steve who was holding him down. "Whoa Tony. Calm down. It's me, Steve. Bruce is right here. Though, you're going to have to stay still. Bruce is trying to save you, so don't move. It's going to be okay." Tony was wondering what was going to be okay and why Bruce was trying to save him by cutting him open. It was then that all the pain started to flood back into him, regaining his feeling. He moaned in agony and Steve brought him a bottle of liquor to drink. He grabbed it and chugged as much as he could down. He was hoping that soon it would numb the pain. Finding out what was happening to him could wait till later, he just wanted the pain gone. As if reading his mind, Bruce looked up and said "I'll explain everything later. Right now just try to relax and don't move. I mean it Tony Stark." "Yeah, didn't plan on moving anytime soon." Tony grimaced. He took another couple of swigs of liquor and tried to relax. He was starting to get sleepy when Bruce proceeded to stick something in to hole he had cut into Tony's chest. The pain paired with alcohol and exhaustion thankfully knocked Tony out. He was never as happy to pass out as he was then.

With Tony knocked out, Bruce finished placing the contraption inside Tony and used another healing spell to close the edges of skin around it. He prayed that this thing worked and that Tony would be safe enough to get to Winterhold where he could get better help. With everything done, Bruce cleaned up the supplies and sent down Steve and Thor with his coin purse to get their own rooms and pay for his and Tony's room. After that, Bruce collapsed onto the bed beside Tony, careful not to jar or hit him. As soon as his head hit his pillow, Bruce slipped into an uneasy sleep full of nightmares.


End file.
